Agreement Emerges Over Iran Nuclear Program

17 September 2004 -- The United States has reportedly agreed with Britain, France, and Germany on a UN draft resolution calling on Iran to suspend all activities related to uranium enrichment.

U.S. State Department spokesman Edward Vasquez, quoted by AFP, has said Washington and the three European states have reached agreement on the draft, which is due to be considered today by the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Uranium enrichment is a process in which uranium is purified for use as nuclear fuel or in nuclear weapons.

The draft resolution is reported to also demand that Iran resolve all outstanding issues about its nuclear program by November.

Agreement on the draft was reported after several days of talks in Vienna, where the IAEA board has been meeting to discuss Iran's nuclear program.

Iran denies U.S. allegations that it is secretly trying to obtain nuclear weapons.

(Reuters/AFP/AP)

[For an RFE/RL analysis of how Iran's clerics are faring since that country's 1979 Islamic revolution, click here.]